On Earth As It Is In Sweden

Devils @ Hurricanes, Game 4

The scene: the living room of Stately IPB Manor, as we settle down in front of the TV after a long day at work. We notice something is awry. There is an empty space in our peripheral vision where some brightly-colored objects are supposed to be… a void… on the mantle. We can’t quite put our fingers on it, though. Something is off… What could it be?

Then we look down.

Ye gods! Joyless Depression Clemmer! That’s what’s missing! Fortunately, he left a trail of clues for us to try to find the den of evil where the cats and/or Hockey Gods are holding him.

And as we followed the trail, collecting the stabby, stinky fishies and bucket (but no pelican, alas…), what to our wondering eyes should appear?

HE’S BACK!

This has to be a good sign.

FIRST PERIOD

20:00 It is indescribably nice to have Doc back. It never feels like a real game when Gel-O’s got the call.

19:36 The Devils ice the puck right off the bat, and while we wait for the faceoff, Pookie asks, “Why is Holik playing again tonight?” Schnookie: “Because Langer’s still injured?” Pookie, having none of that: “Why couldn’t we dress PL3 instead?”

17:57 Tuomo Ruutu skates through the neutral zone, and as Zubrus watches him making to skate by, he decides, we guess, that he just doesn’t like that guy very much. His elbow into Ruutu’s chin, though, does not go unnoticed by the officials. It’s a bit of an upset in the “who’s going to be the first Devil to take an idiotic penalty” pool.

16:47 The Hurricanes have remembered how to play on the PP, after three games of looking hapless all the time with the man advantage. We liked them more the old way.

15:57 It didn’t look good for the Devils, but somehow they managed not to give up a goal on that PK. And now that the penalty’s been killed, we’ll admit that we don’t have any problem with Ruutu getting a faceful of elbow.

13:28 Nope, the Devils still don’t have a shot on goal.

13:25 Check that. Now they have one.

12:45 Chico has been talking tonight about how both Marty and Ward played baseball in their youths, Ward at shortstop and Marty at first. When Ward calmly gloves a weak-assed Devils attempt at a shot, Chico tells us he caught it like a shortstop, and then starts babbling about how Marty catches differently, like his firstbaseman training would suggest. Pookie: “Yeah, Ward catches like an athletic, quick fielder. Marty catches like someone fat and lazy.” Schnookie: “Marty catches more like a DH who’s been forced to play at first because it’s an interleague game.” Pookie: “Yeah, and the team already has a slow, fat guy in right field.” We have a lot of respect for the ballet that is baseball.

12:15 The Devils play some fantastic defense (by “fantastic” we mean “standing around and watching”) while the Canes send a few waves of players to whack at the fat, bouncy rebounds Marty’s leaving after each of the sequence of shots being peppered in from close range, and finally Hooters punches the puck through. It’s 1-0 Hurricanes.

11:13 Marty has not cleanly handled a single shot yet tonight, and his bobbling another rebound conspires with more confused, passive D from the skaters to lead to a Bayda goal. It’s 2-0 Hurricanes.

10:09 Pookie points out that this entire period has looked like the OT in Game 2. The Hurricanes are the markedly better team tonight.

9:30 Chico tells us the Devils need “a catalyst”, and volunteers Paulie to do it. Meanwhile, the guys on the ice are going offside for the umpteenth time this period. (Okay, that might be an exaggeration – the Devils haven’t had possession of the puck nearly umpteen times.)

8:05 Havelid is fucking fired. Honestly, why can’t Andy Greene dress in his place? Greener can totally turn the puck over behind Marty’s net just as well as the Talc Boar, but we at least don’t hate him while he does it.

7:52 Gio and LaRose get matching unsportsmanlike conduct minors off a scrum in front of the benches on a change. Whatever. We suspect the Canes will have a decided advantage at four-on-four, too.

7:01 Paulie struggles with about 15 Canes draped all over him behind the goal line in the Devils zone, and Pookie tries to buck up. “Come on, Paulie! Coast to coast!” she cheers. Then she pauses while watching the sequence turn into another turnover just inside the blueline. She sighs and recalibrates her expectations, “Come on, Devils. Just get it out of the zone.”

6:06 We watch the Canes skate with ease around the Devils zone, and agree that all we’re asking now of this game is that Carolina get complacent and not come out as hard for the next period. Not that we’re saying that in hopes the Devils will win – it’s just for our own benefit, having to watch the last 40 minutes.

4:45 Doc is no longer paying attention to the play; he’s rambling about Harris Teeter, and how that sounds like such a “good, Southern name”. Pookie: “We’ve hit a point I didn’t think we’d reach tonight. I call it The Harris Teeter point.”

3:33 The Carolina pressure remains relentless. This looks like one of those games in February when Marty just really needs to be pulled – both because he’s sucking and as a motivator for the lazy skaters – but he won’t be.

2:29 What is that happening on the ice? Is that… a scoring chance? In the Carolina zone??? The Patty/Gio/Zubrus line actually manages to wheel a bit around the side of Ward’s net, and create a quick, mid-range, unscreened shot for Patty. Ward doesn’t have any trouble freezing it. Pookie: “That’s as close as we’re getting to scoring a goal tonight.”

2:10 LaRose gets called for something no one but the center-ice official noticed during a Poppers shift.

1:24 We’ve been joking for the last few minutes about how Chico criticized Zach during G3 by saying that truly great players don’t score one goal in playoff games – they score two. And now he’s parked at the side of the net, with a gaping goal in front of him, when Ward kicks a laser-beam rebound right to him. He doesn’t have the reaction to get a stick on it. Because he’s not a great player. Or something.

0:00 That period was what we expected this entire series to be, so we guess we should be happy that at least the late-season swoon Devils waited until tonight to start crapping the bed.

FIRST INTERMISSION

Whatever.

SECOND PERIOD

19:51 As Paulie starts the period off with a swaggery little shot from just inside the blue line, Chico tells us the Devils need to concentrate on “winning the next two period, because then they can’t lose.” Oooohhh-kay.

18:00 Travis tries to spring his fellow Poppers, but his long outlet pass to Rolston turns into nothing as both Rolston and then Zach are easily muscled off the puck in the corner to Ward’s left.

17:31 Chico tells us what the Devils need right now is Patty to step up and start getting stuff done. Us: “No shit.” Boomer believes Patty’s playing hurt. Meanwhile, MSG+ gives us a little stat on the screen pointing out that Patty is the only player currently in the playoffs who has an active streak of scoring at least one goal in nine straight playoff series.

16:43 The fourth lines take a shift, and as the Hurricanes seem like they’re content to be firing long bombs from the point while the Devils are content to not pursue any of the ensuing rebounds, Clarkson gets called for an elbow. Replay shows an apparent lack of an elbowing infraction, but considering how stupid the Devils fourth line is, we’ll just assume that MSG+ failed to queue up the right highlight.

16:18 PandoNation’s heart is set a-flutter, as its emperor-god tears down the ice in a stunning display of hustle and gumption, dragging a couple of Cane power play guys behind him, and drawing a PP-negating holding penalty.

13:25 The pace is getting torrid, with the Devils finally skating a bit more, but Marty once again gives up a total crap rebound on a three-on-three rush, and LaRose is able to score the easiest goal of his career while Havelid conveniently takes Marty out. It’s 3-0 Hurricanes. We wonder what the math is now on Chico’s hopes for the Devils winning this period.

12:16 Marty makes a glove save and doesn’t give up a rebound. We know! Shocking! Meanwhile, Doc is giving us instructions on how to use your playoff ticket strips. Apparently there’s a trick to it. If you’ve got a ticket strip, you’re going to want to use the one for “Round One, Home Game 3” for the next game. Not “Round Two, Home Game 4” or something like that. And don’t try re-using “Round One, Home Game 1 or 2”. They won’t work either. Pookie: “And when you’re going to the game, remember to put on pants. You do that by first putting your leg into one of the pant legs, then the other one into the other…”

10:33 We are not paying attention to the game right now, and are only partially listening, but we do hear Doc’s call: “Penalty coming up. Probably Havelid.” Yeah, no kidding. Andy Greene: “I can do that!” Sutter: “Shut up, Greener. That Havelid guy is my ticket outta here.”

8:28 The shots are 28-13 in favor of the Hurricanes. Chico finds this “amazing”. We don’t.

8:21 This game in a microcosm: Marty makes a save in traffic and kicks the rebound out toward a d-man. The d-man stands there waiting for the puck to come to him, facing toward the net. A Hurricane watches the play unfold for a moment, then decides to jump up from the point, and beats the Devil to the puck. The Devils are skating ever so hard.

6:24 The Devils think they’re doing something offense-ish. They’re not. It doesn’t count as offense when you’re just dumbly firing one puck after another into the shot blockers standing five feet in front of the blue line.

2:52 There’s a giant pileup in the Devils crease, with what looks like a penalty coming up on the Iron Boar while the puck is still loose, and then, as the whistle blows when Marty finally covers the puck, LaRose rolls over onto the Iron Boar’s let and operatically blows out his knee. We go to commercial watching the Iron Boar writhe on the ice, clutching at his knee, and taking whatever feeble playoff hopes we had for the Devils with him. We come back from commercial to see Rolston sitting dully in the box, serving the Iron Boar’s cross-checking penalty.

2:20 The Canes have 20 shots in this period. So far. The Devils, on the other hand, have made us throw up 20 times in our own mouths. So far.

1:44 We’re sitting in silence, our spirits completely broken. Pookie finally breaks the silence by beginning a thought, “Well, maybe the next two games…” she trials off, unable to fully form her attempt at optimism. From the depths of her chair, Boomer finishes for her, “…will be played without TV coverage.”

0:28 WOO. Gio scores on a breakaway. It’s 3-1 Hurricanes. Chico: “This changes everything!” Schnookie is about to go off on how it’s really not that big a deal to have cut a four-goal lead down to three goals when she realizes that it was actually only 3-0 Canes. Well. That does change things.

0:00 Is it over yet?

SECOND INTERMISSION

Whoops! Was there an intermission?

THIRD PERIOD

19:40 We suddenly look up from fabric shopping online to realize the game has resumed.

19:01 A spooooky thunderstorm is brewing outside. It’s just the kind of dark and stormy night during which Victory Euro Mats could be Matsnapped during a blackout or something.

17:44 Cole drills Zach from behind and puts the Devils on the PP just as the heavens open and start pelting stately IPB Manor with massive hail. We hold V.E. Mats close and dare the cats to try to take him if the power goes out.

17:08 This storm is pretty intense. And that’s not a poetic way of describing the Devils PP.

16:04 Marty makes a really awkward save on what Doc says “could have been the cash-in goal of the night.” We think about that for a moment, then Schnookie says, “That’s okay. 3-1 is a perfectly good final score, too.”

15:39 WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! Ward takes a page out of his hero’s book and leaves a rebound right where Shanny’s standing, and Shanny calmly shovels the puck into the net. It’s 3-2 Hurricanes, and you can color us shocked.

13:18 A weak turnover at the Carolina blueline by Zach turns into a Hurricane two-on-one… and Oduya, smooth as silk, just coolly stands up the rush and pokes the puck back out to safety. That was a really good play by Johnny Handsome. And a really bad one by Zach. Just saying.

11:14 WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CLARKSON!!! CLARKSON!!! DAVID CLARKSON!!!!! Our very own wraparound superstar has a shift where he looks like he’s trying to prove a point that he’s better than his fourth-liner linemates, and basically just takes over the game for a shift. After some hard work on the boards in the corner, then some hard work behind the net, he passes the puck out to Paulie at the point, gets it back off a rebound, waltzes through the ghost town that is the defensive coverage in front of Ward’s net, and rips the puck past the diving Ward. 3-3 game, and it seems that Gionta goal did change everything!

6:53 The Canes get their first shot since the tying goal. We are now really nervous.

4:00 The crowd is sounder tenser and tenser, and the play is clogging itself up pretty well as both teams are realizing the importance of the clock ticking down, and the Canes ice the puck weirdly on a neutral-zone bit of broken play.

3:17 The Devils did not retain possession of the puck off the icing faceoff, and now the Canes are pressing more. That said, both teams look like they’re playing for the extra point.

2:36 There is a grievous turnover on the Devils zone, but Samsonov bails them out by shooting wide on his glorious scoring chance.

1:43 The Patty/Gio/Zubrus line dominates for a shift, but they end up overpassing and nothing comes of it.

1:11 Hooters looks like he’s got the game on his stick after a frenzy of Canes activity, but he flops over in front of the net while Whitey stands somewhat culpably nearby. There is no call. The fans are not happy.

0:00 The Devils opt not to play to the buzzer, while the Canes do. A point shot from Seidenberg gets through the traffic, and with 00.2 on the clock, the puck is in the net. 4-3 Hurricanes, and at least we were spared fucking overtime. (Replay shows that Jokinen hit Marty while setting his screen, and Marty is livid. Well, maybe if you hadn’t played like complete crap in the first period, you might have won tonight, Marty.)

I was beginning to worry we would never see poor V.E. Mats raise his arms in victory on Interchangeable Parts again. After all, according to some nameless source I can’t remember, you only have 48 hours to find a missing person before they’re gone for good.

Your V.E. Mats snatching cats remind me a lot of my two terriers, Kai and Abie, who steal my things, hide them under the bed and chew them to bits. Their particular favourites are eyeglasses/sunglasses.

It was. That article made me so angry I actually commented on Sabres Edge. Well that and the condescending dude who called Kate sweetheart. I don’t know that it bothered her but I decided apropos of nothing that the dude-girl ratio needed to be evened up a touch.

The one where he sucks at everything, then sings a choral solo about his mom.

I don’t think I’ve seen that one — it sounds ESPECIALLY awful! (Those commercials crack me up. I love the one with the negligent parents losing their kid at a concert, and then their snot-nosed little brat ruining everyone’s evening at the theater by going on stage and playing the piano.)

Have we gotten the obligatory Stan-Fischler-most-dangerous-lead comment yet?

Nah. The Devils haven’t looked good enough tonight to warrant that. No, what we’re getting is Chico saying that the Devils HAVE to score a shorty here. Yeah, it’s going great in this game, if you think the only way you can win is by scoring shorthanded.

Fuck. I knew I shouldn’t have had hope. I KNEW IT! I hit “submit” and I thought, “Fuck, that does it. The Canes are going to win.” I can’t believe the stupid Devils played just well enough to make me pissed as all hell that they lost. GAH!

I don’t care what Chico says, that’s not goalie interference. Marty was practically up around the blue line trying to cut off the angle, and he practically skated into Jokinen as much as Jokinen skated into him.

FUCK.

I mean, the team battles back like that. I know I have an unpopular view, but MAKE A FUCKING SAVE MARTY. You fat, womanizing, no-show.

I completely agree. And Marty knows he’s never going to get that call anyway, BECAUSE HE NEVER GETS THAT CALL. The Devils let up, either because there was more time than they thought, or because they’re just lazy and stupid, and Marty didn’t make the save. AND THE ENTIRE TEAM, FROM MARTY OUT, ONLY PLAYED 20:28 OF THIS GAME. I mean, come on. You have to earn your calls, Marty. Gah.

I’m looking for a silver lining, and I found it: This soul-crushing loss will ultimately send the Devils off for an early tee time, hence, we won’t have to buy strips for the 3rd and 4th rounds. We really can’t afford those anyway.

Wow, is the whole MSG+ crew pissed! Dano raves, Doc pontificates, Chico wails.
And then I find out Gel-O has a blog! http://blogs.msg.com/gameon/steve-cangialosi/
9 pages of history and no comments.
Is it time to break this duck?

Carol, that’s an emoticon Schnookie and I invented a while ago to mean “you just made me laugh so hard I snorted milk up my nose”. We didn’t used to be emoticon people, but that one’s turned out to be remarkably useful. If you think something’s a little funny a simple :^::: will suffice, but for something really awesome, :^::::::::::::::::::::::: *gasp* ::::::::::::::::::::: gets the job done!

Oh, and thanks for linking to the Glossary, EJGRgunner! I forgot that was in there! I meant to check it earlier to see if the apology cinnamon bun emoticon was there after I handed some out to poor Grrreg this afternoon.

I actually rewound it and slo-mo’d it. He was not even touched. He kicked his feet up like a Rockette and there wasn’t a stick near him.

I usually fall on the side of the guy that falls, if the stick even touches their foot, because it only has to interrupt the rhythm of your stride to trip you. It doesn’t have to be forceful. But not that time. He was well away before he decided to kick up.

Stalky, I CAN’T STOP LAUGHING at your comments for Gel-O! You are a SUPERHERO!!! I wish I could be a fly on the wall when he reads them. Or when his assistant reads them, and then tries to figure out how to tell him about them. (I figure Gel-O fancies himself some sort of Rat Pack-ish big-name showbiz player. As soon as the camera’s off, he’s snapping his fingers for his assistant to hand him his cigar and a few fingers of Scotch.)

And it TOTALLY chafes his chaps that Goring and Jaffe have claim to the assistant. Nothing sets him off like calling for the assistant to remove another dead broad from his yacht at 3 in the morning, and being told he’s going to have to wait because the kid’s on a Werther’s run for Uncle Butchie.

Nothing sets him off like calling for the assistant to remove another dead broad from his yacht at 3 in the morning, and being told he’s going to have to wait because the kid’s on a Werther’s run for Uncle Butchie.

Nothing sets him off like calling for the assistant to remove another dead broad from his yacht at 3 in the morning, and being told he’s going to have to wait because the kid’s on a Werther’s run for Uncle Butchie.

Maybe if Gel-O bought the high grade junk, these bims wouldn’t keep kicking off on him.
His sloop’s name: Gel-O Shots

:^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: If he can ever get Fischler to bite it, or better yet, Trautwig, he’ll be able to move up to the big-time — a seat at the Hockey Night New York Live roundtable. Then he’ll be able to afford the high-grade junk.

He wants that Blersus gig so bad he can taste it. Unfortunately, he’s been hitting the bottle a bit too hard this season (damn that Doc — the man RECOVERED from being sick, and Gel-O had to go back to working belowstairs), and there have been more than a few embarrassing incidents where Gel-O has approached the hiring directors at Blersus and tried to show them his V. He just wants to prove he’s a good company man, but…

We have to wait something crazy like 9 days for the next Canucks game. Glad you guys are here. That’s a long time to wait.

Dammit! Your team is just TOO GOOD! :P (And yeah, the playoffs are all about hurry-up-and-wait. It didn’t used to be like this! Apparently we’re facing the possibility of there being something like TWELVE DAYS between the conference finals and the Cup final. Stupid NHL schedulers…)

Ok, now I feel bad for being so mad and jealous of the Devil’s all season. I’m sorry. You can blame me for this.

I didn’t see the game, I was watching Arrested Development on DVD and old dvr’d episodes of the Real Houswives of New York City. Sounds like there was more drama and temper tantrums on the ice than on the reality show.

Ah, sounds like the Devils have come down with a case of Sabreitis. Symptoms include not realizing that a hockey game is 60 minutes long, inane stupidity being exhibited by all involved in the game, and a random injury to keep things interesting. Sadly, a cure has not yet been developed.

Wow. What a theatrical dive by Miller!

Are you referring to Baby Crunchy’s tripping over his own two feet, stick and puck that led to the power play that led to the Ducks goal? I figure it was his little way of evening the score for having the Sharks first goal go in off his foot.

Ok, now I feel bad for being so mad and jealous of the Devil’s all season.

Yeah, I’m not even going to pretend to be gracious about this. I TOLD YOU SO.

and a random injury to keep things interesting.

:^:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: That’s definitely what differentiates this from Devils-in-March-and-Aprilitis. I thought this was a run-of-the-mill bug, the same thing our team gets every year, but now I know — it’s MUCH more dire! Sabreitis is the worst!

I don’t care what Chico says, that’s not goalie interference. Marty was practically up around the blue line trying to cut off the angle, and he practically skated into Jokinen as much as Jokinen skated into him.

FUCK.

I mean, the team battles back like that. I know I have an unpopular view, but MAKE A FUCKING SAVE MARTY

Sorry I’m late to this, after the game ended, I decided to watch Schindler’s List (it was on HBO) which will tell you my mood and this morning has been absolutely insane at work.

I don’t think you are alone. Those might have been my words. In fact, I think they were. I know we sort of accept that Chico always makes excuses for goalies and, well, he never, ever says it’s Marty’s fault, but, this game was partly the whole team’s fault, but they battled back so mostly on Marty. Especially the last goal. He was far enough out of his crease that it just isn’t interference. The only teams that are are going to get that call are Detroit and the Pens and it’s not because it’s interference. It’s because they get the call – not because it’s right. In that case, the call would be wrong.

I agree, Sue. I’m not going to put this loss solely on Marty, though — I mean he was just playing as badly as everyone else, and he wasn’t the only guy on the ice to screw up in those final seconds. They ALL suck! :D

And I am having the BEST day today! It’s Administrative Professionals Day, which I normally think is a stupid load of hooey (just like Valentine’s Day. Heh), but I just came from an admin team meeting in which I won a door prize of a hanging petunia plant! WOO HOO! And this morning I got a call from the front gate security guys telling me there was a delivery I needed to take care of. I got all cranky, because I’m always getting things like lab supplies routed to me that shouldn’t be, and after much bitching and moaning from me, the security guy was like, “It’s flowers.” Oops! Heh heh heh. So, as it turns out, despite the fact that I’m a total churl, my boss got me a GORGEOUS bouquet of roses and lilacs and hydrangeas. It smells so lovely in my cubicle now!

Way to go, Erin! If your admins and receptionists are anything like me, they totally roll their eyes at Administrative Professionals Day anyway, but appreciate the gifts nonetheless. Heh. (I hate getting taken out for lunch, though. If I wanted to eat lunch with my boss, I’d be better friends with him. :P)

Happy Administrative Professionals Day then :D Especially those who are actually Admins.

I got a call from my Dad’s PA, asking whether my sister and I had picked out her gift (some little glass bee earrings) because they were entirely pretty to be my Dad’s own idea. I lied and said we had nothing to do with it (we got them on Etsy)

As for the Devils, I’m ignoring them and their antics. I don’t have the time or energy to get mad or disappointed with them, or super happy for that matter. The only thing I need is for them to make the second round, because I need something to do at goalie camp next week. Listening to games would definitely break up the monotony of night shift. But I’m guessing the guys are not so into my being entertained, those bastards.

Congrats to the Canucks on sweeping, btw! And the Sharks for winning! Yay!

I’m also pretty disinterested in the notion of an emotional response to the Devils. It was strange how the game wasn’t so much disappointing last night as it was… I dunno. I guess I was disgusted by it, but only enough to spew a lot of cuss words and then be like, “It’s the same old story.” I think I’m finding the Devils very stale lately. I hope for your sake, though, Mags, that they can at the very least offer up some entertainment! They ARE bastards!

I guess I was disgusted by it, but only enough to spew a lot of cuss words and then be like, “It’s the same old story.”

I had the same reaction when I woke up this morning. When they lost game 2, I got really mad (and spent the entire day being incredibly immature about pretty much everything). They are terribly stale and predictable and Devils-y. And bastards.

You know what the Devils need? Some of drama. Some honest to God, the-sky-is-falling, proper drama. None of this we’re-going-to-suck-for-40-minutes-and-act-indignant-about-losing drama. The-refs-are-against-us drama will not do either. Real, snatch-victory-from-the-jaws-of-defeat drama. And if that fails, they can just try pressing the Drama Button to see if that works.

And if that fails, they can just try pressing the Drama Button to see if that works.

:^:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: And you’re SO right. Drama is something the Devils don’t bother doing, let alone just not doing it well. Sigh. At least it’s only two more games before we can go on with living our lives again. :P

Happy AP day to all! We make a big deal out of it here, everyone goes to lunch and all that. I don’t mind so much, because whatever, but our secretary is pretty bad so a lot of the office gets up in arms over it every year. It’s actually kinda comical.

Sorry about the Devils game last night. 0.2 seconds…what a heartbreaker.

Congrats to the Canucks though, alix is probably still drunk.

And the Sharks finally took their heads out of their asses. What a game that was! I love Dan Boyle. And Torrey Mitchell.

I don’t mind so much, because whatever, but our secretary is pretty bad so a lot of the office gets up in arms over it every year. It’s actually kinda comical.

:^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: That’s fantastic! My old department VP used to take us all out to lunch along with his senior leadership team. And we had to sit at a long table, alternating — admin, director, admin, executive director, admin, etc. It was AWFUL. I still have nightmares about it.

And congrats on the Sharks not looking like poop, andrew! It’s about time!

Hey all. What a bummer of a game. I was just glancing at the comments, and I think that a small point was missed. Yes the Devils played terrible for most of the game, but Carolina completely cracked when the Devils put their game back together to rally for the tie. That is why I am as disgusted with the non-call on the winning goal as Marty was. Both teams were playing pretty sloppy hockey at the end of it all, and Jokinen bumping Marty is just as sloppy a play as Martin not clearing the puck 5 seconds aforehand. Jokinen was all alone in front of Marty and just had to skate infront of him to get position for a deflection, but he either got cute or stupid, and that goal should never have been allowed. Jokinen gained position illegally, and that is why offensive interference is in the dang rule book to begin with.

Now I am not saying by any stretch of imagination that the Devils win this game if the interference was called. I’m just saying that Devils didn’t deserve to lose because they had a bad night. The ‘Canes were just as bad (though in a more concentrated form), and got a gift.

I don’t think that’s true in this case. I think Marty skated into him as much as he skated into Marty. But you do make a great point that the Canes weren’t much better than the Devils in the third. They were, however, significantly better in the first and second, and I’m not going to discount that.

Jokinen had just as much right to the ice that far out of the crease as Marty did, so I’m not too broken up about the non-call. And yes, the Canes crumbled in the third, but whatevs. The Devils were, overall, the worse team in that game, so I’m not too broken up over the result, either.

Hey, I’m just saying that the ‘Canes were brutal at the end of the game, and the Devils deserve some credit for not folding the tents and going home. Aslo, if that were oh say Bobby Holik and Cam Ward at the end you think that goal would have counted? I am just frustrated that the boarderline calls haven’t come our way yet, but being a Devils fan I pretty much have to expect that and move on dot org.

Bleh. Can we just pretend the last minute of last night’s game never even happened? Like, take the loss but just forget how it happened. Unfortunately for me my memory, unlike my DVR, cannot erase ugly losses with the push of a remote control button.

And on totally random note, was I the only one who laughed a little at Marty’s temper tantrum? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him freak out like that over anything that didn’t involve Sean Avery. Where did our affable goalie go? He looked like Patrick Roy’s heir apparent last night to more than just the win record.

Woo! Sorry to comment and run on everyone there. Had to go to our AP Day all office lunch. Super time. Half the office was clearly staging a silent protest, as they never showed up. Whatever, more buffet pizza for me.

Anyways, as I was saying, thank god the Sharks played like they cared last night. Dan Boyle is the french fry that stirs the gravy on the Sharks poutine postseason. Torrey Mitchell is the cheese curds, you place your order with no cheese because it’s too expensive, but then they put it on there anyways and it makes the whole thing ten times awesomer, for free.

Aslo, if that were oh say Bobby Holik and Cam Ward at the end you think that goal would have counted?

No, in that case, it probably wouldn’t have counted. But, I have to say, the past few seasons, I can’t really get worked up about the team not getting the breaks because they haven’t worked hard enough for them. As soon as they show me they can work hard for a full 60 minutes, then I’ll start expecting them to get some breaks.

andrew, that’s a beautiful poutine analogy! The Devils are the crappy inedible hot dog you get from the Meadowlands.

Congrats on the Sharks win last night, Andrew! They had me worried on behalf of my Rinkotology bracket – I have the Sharks beating the Ducks in seven and I was worried Hiller was going to pull a Giggy circa the ’03 Stanley Cup playoffs and carry his team to the Cup Final he would go on to lose and win a Conne Smythe that totally belongs to the opposing team’s goalie. Tell your boys to keep a handle on that for me. And Torrey Mitchell is ridiculously cute. I saw one of those irritating Versus women interviewing him but all I could focus on was his smile. Adorable.

Ugh, can we not talk about the Meadowlands? Those insanely vertical steps leading up to the nosebleed section gave me vertigo. I still have nightmares about plummeting to my death in the lower bowl to this day. Who designed those frickin’ things, anyway, a mountain goat?

Well, it isn’t just that Torrey Mitchell is cute. He is also one of those inspirational comeback stories that society can’t seem to get enough of. Wasn’t last night the first game he played after missing the entire regular season after shattering his leg last fall? That in and of itself is pretty awesome.

What you should feel bad about is that our pepper seedlings are dying! Something’s eating them. Matsui the cat pulled one out of its little seedling pot, and the others have chewed up leaves. We can’t tell if it’s some kind of mite eating them or Matsui. Somehow each winter I forget how stressful seedlings are.

Shit! That’s terrible! It’s probably Matsui. Sorry to hear it. I know that you can grow seedlings under flourescent lighting as long as the light source is 6 inches, or less, above the plants. Can you put them in another room and lock the door? At least that will let you know if it’s the cat or not.

My seedlings are going okay. We have a ton of lettuce. I planted the mesclun salad mix in two week intervals and it’s going crazy. All of the others are inside still, probably ready to transplant in about 2 weeks. I also direct sowed some stuff to see what it would do, and it’s popping up. So I might get lucky and have a bed full of stuff producing at different stages.

Oooh, nice! We’ve never once managed to do the successive planting thing (well, except for radishes, but that doesn’t really count). And transplanting in two weeks? Awesome! I’m so jealous! I’m guessing we’re still a month from putting stuff the tomatoes and peppers in the ground.

Yeah the lettuce was easy, just had to remember to re-seed every two weeks. The funny thing is that when I started watering the bed, these funky looking plants started popping up. I realized what they were last week: potatoes! I must have missed a few.

And transplanting in two weeks?

That’s wishful guessing, if there is such a thing. I hope they’ll be ready in two weeks, but I got a late start, so we’ll see.

Good afternoon everyone! I’m in a surprisingly good mood for it being the Habs’ last game! And those fuckers better not pull some lame ass move and win tonight thereby prolonging this fucking trainwreck of a season. (I really am in a good mood despite all the f-bombs.)

Wow, andrew, I am totally jealous of your lettuce crop! I have to say, I’m highly suspicious of the total lack of potato sprouts anywhere in our garden. Not in the bed in which we planted potatoes a few weeks ago, and not in the beds where they grew last year. Curious. (Or garlic is going like gangbusters, though. So even if our peppers are a wet mess, we’ve got something going for us.)

And those fuckers better not pull some lame ass move and win tonight thereby prolonging this fucking trainwreck of a season.

And I’ve also decided these guys don’t deserve to lose in Boston where they’re safe. I wanna see them get swept in front of thousands of people who are ready to pelt them with beer cans, shoes, rocks, bullets, whatever.

I think it’s the green berries that grow out of the flowers that are toxic. I’m not sure about the leaves.

Either way, I’m not gonna test it.

did I tell you guys? I put my zucchini seedling in the garden because it was getting so big. The next day we had a lot of really nasty wind. I went out to check on it and it was leaning. I went to push it upright a little bit and it snapped, almost all the way in half. I cursed the heavens and left it there. Two days later it was not only still alive, but was sprouting new leaves. I left it there and it’s huge now. Those things are un-frickin-believable.

I’ll bring out my favorite old joke: Some comedian was talking about living in his tiny town. He said it’s a myth about not having to lock your car. They always locked their car doors even at church. If you didn’t, you’d find that someone had broken into it and left you a bunch of home-grown zucchini.